Blatherskite

Have you seen/done this yet? It seems like I saw this a long time ago on one of your blogs and made a mental note to do this and then completely forgot. Until the other day when I was surfing the internets. So here the rules, the questions, and my answers (in italics):
The rules:
a. Type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr Search.
b. Using only the first page, pick an image.
c. Copy and paste each of the URLs for the images into fd’s mosaic maker).

the questions:
1. What is your first name? Monica
2. What is your favorite food? Indian
3. What high school did you go to? John Rogers High School
4. What is your favorite color? Blue
5. Who is your celebrity crush? Either one in the picture’ll do
6. Favorite drink? Chai
7. Dream vacation? Italy
8. Favorite dessert? Huckleberry pie
9. What you want to be when you grow up? Photographer
10. What do you love most in life? The ocean
11. One Word to describe you. Seeker
12. Your flickr name. CraftyMoni

Click on the image for photo credits and some little notes that I put on the couple of the pictures, for further elaboration.

August 26th, 2008 | Tags: Flickr meme, Me, Meme, mosaic, Photos | Category: Me, Photos | Comments (1)

I cast on this last week while we were on vacation. It’s the Twilight Scarf from the book A Fine Fleece. I used that silk yarn hand spun from silk hankies (the one I started to use for the Morning Surf Scarf) and some yarn I hand dyed with grape Kool-Aid a couple of years ago.

At first I was daunted by having to cut the silk yarn each section because the main color pattern repeat is 12 rows and I didn’t think it would look good carrying the contrasting yarn that many rows. However, I devised a trick (and I’m sure I’m not the first person in the knitting world to think of this). At the start of each right side row (where my yarn not being used was hanging out) I wrapped my working yarn around the non-working yarn. The non-working yarn would get “weaved in” up the side automatically. It turned out really well and I only had a few ends to weave in at the end as opposed to a million. yay!

As usual, here is the Ravelry info if you wish to see it.

August 25th, 2008 | Tags: crafty monday, Twilight Scarf | Category: Knitting | Comments (3)

The Brothers Grimm: Popular Folk Tales by The Brothers Grimm

I have found myself almost obsessed with these stories. I decided to read through these folk-tale and fairy-tale classics because I don’t remember being exposed to the original versions of the stories in my childhood. I absolutely love them. Some of the originals are so gruesome that they had me exclaiming “oh my God!” out loud in the staff lounge at work, and then I had to share the passage with my co-workers. Did you know that Snow White’s step-mother told her henchman to kill Snow White and bring back her lungs and liver so she could eat them? yikes! And don’t even get me started on the story “Fitcher’s Bird.” That story will give you nightmares.

They are freaking awesome!

The edition I checked out from the library didn’t include Red Riding Hood and Cinderella so I just bought the Complete Grimms and will read them at my leisure.

August 23rd, 2008 | Tags: Book Talk Saturday, Brothers Grimm, Fairy Tales, Folk Tales | Category: Books | Comments (2)

Pelicans in the fog, originally uploaded by CraftyMoni.

I took this one on our vacation last week. The fog was REALLY thick on the beach this day. I couldn’t see more than 10 feet in front of me (which is scary because they let cars drive on the beach here). There were a bunch of pelicans hanging out and it was an amazing sight to see them flying out of the fog, like they were coming out of nowhere.

Here are the rest of my photos from our little trip if you want to see.

August 22nd, 2008 | Category: Photos | Comments (2)

I have spent the day updating my blog template. It’s all shiny and pretty now! And I even have my own images in the header, which is what I’ve been wanting to do for awhile. I’m so happy! It makes me want to blog more often!

And with that, I will share an interesting idea that was tweeted over the ether by Frank. An Obama/Kennedy ticket? I like the idea. I like it a lot.

August 19th, 2008 | Category: Politics, Site | Comments (1)

I finished my scarf last week and let it block while I was out of town for 4 days. I really like how it turned out! I’m so glad I went with this yarn. I think it is absolutely perfect for this pattern. The perfect marriage. I think it, indeed, looks like morning surf. Here is the Ravelry link if you feel so inclined. Not much else to say about it. Great pattern. Highly recommended.

Speaking of morning surf, I just got back from the coast. We had a fantastic time. In fact, I wish I was still there. I miss living near the ocean so much. I came back to Spokane, home of unbearable heat. Oh, and we found that someone had broken into our garage and stole my bike. Jerks.

Did I mention I wish I was still in Long Beach?

August 18th, 2008 | Tags: Morning Surf Scarf | Category: Knitting | Comments (1)